Brevan Howard Asia Fund posts best annual returns
The US$877mil fund bucks a difficult October for macro funds
HONG KONG: The Brevan Howard Asia Fund bucked a difficult October for macro funds, and is posting its best annual return in five years, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
The US$877mil fund gained almost 1.3% last month, to be up 6.2%for the year, said the person. That’s the 14-year-old fund’s best annual return since 2013.
The fund gained in a month when stocks globally fell the most in six years and investors dumped other risky assets such as crude oil, plunging hedge funds into widespread losses.
The HFRI Fund-Weighted Composite Index retreated 3.2% and Brevan Howard’s AH Master Fund was among those that posted losses.
It was a mixed month for Brevan Howard’s funds.
The AH Master Fund lost 1.3% in October, though is still up 30% this year. The firm’s US$3.3bil master fund advanced 1.9% through Oct 26, taking its year-to-date return to 12%.
Macro funds like the Brevan Howard Asia Fund, led by Kaspar Ernst, seek to profit from broad economic trends by trading in stock, bond, currency and commodity markets. Investors pulled US$3.9bil from macro funds last month after adding more cash to them in the nine months through September than any other hedge-fund strategy, according to eVestment.
Brevan Howard Asia Fund’s assets have halved from US$1.7bil in February after longtime trader Minal Bathwal started raising money for a separate fund focusing on trends in Asia.
He has an annualised 17.5% return since joining the firm in 2008 without a losing year, people with knowledge of the matter said in April.
Several years after closing half-a-dozen funds to focus on the firm’s flagship fund, Brevan Howard co-founder Alan Howard is now hoping to draw fresh capital by offering separate products run by his star traders.
He’s also creating single-strategy pools to trade markets including interest rates, volatility and Greek stocks. — Bloomberg